Czech president compares NO supporters in Ireland with dissidents in communist Czechoslovakia

[RB TexLa]

You would think the current economic situation would have convinced even the most ardent of those opposed to nations working together that we have to work together to get through this.


Warning! Euro sceptic hate speech ahead



The Irish government on Wednesday denounced as "misguided, misinformed and insulting" comments by Czech President Vaclav Klaus in which he spoke out against the European Union's reform treaty.

Klaus, a strong euro-sceptic, spoke against the Lisbon treaty at meeting on Tuesday organised by the Libertas group, a leading member of the winning "No" side in Ireland's June referendum on the treaty.

"One could have no objection to President Klaus having private engagements during his visit," European Affairs Minister Dick Roche said in a statement.

"However, his public comments on an issue of ongoing domestic political debate are unusual to put it mildly during a State visit," Roche said.

Klaus' comparison of Libertas with dissidents in Czechoslovakia before the end of communism was "misguided, misinformed and insulting," Roche said.

Klaus, speaking on Wednesday during a trip to the south of Ireland, denied his comments had been inappropriate.

"I didn't visit someone who is against the state. I visited someone who is just opposing the government," Klaus said.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20081112/tpl-uk-eu-ireland-czech-43a8d4f.html